While the conscious mind is remarkable, the subconscious mind is even more awe-inspiring! As your conscious mind processes one choice or action, your subconscious mind simultaneously processes unconscious choices and actions. Once activated, subconscious goals, choices, and actions persist until met. Research indicates that it is not possible to prime your unconscious.[1] However, there are activities and exercises that may allow you to access and or expand your awareness of your subconscious.[2]

Steps

Method1

Practicing Positivity

1

Practice positive self talk. Replace your negative self talk with affirmations. Shifting your language will alter your mindset and override negative subconscious actions and thoughts. Replace “I can’t do this!” with “I can do this!” Instead of saying “I fail at everything!” exclaim “I will succeed!” If you catch yourself slipping back into negative self-talk, pause and take a deep breath. Consider why you are telling yourself you won’t succeed. Identify the factors that caused you to become negative. Note that these factors are triggers and recommit to affirming yourself.[3]

This shift in your language won’t happen overnight. It takes time and consistency. Remain positive as you work toward ridding yourself of negative subconscious expectations and behaviors.

2

Craft a positive mantra. When anxiety or stress arises, calm your nerves and quell negative thoughts by repeating a personally crafted mantra. Consistent use of the mantra will subdue negative thoughts and actions that arise from your subconscious mind. Identify your negative thoughts and accept that your self-judgement is unfounded. Create a healing mantra by identifying the opposite of your self-judgemental claim. Craft two additional mantras that express the same idea; use them interchangeably. Select a spot in your body to ground the positivity. The spot could be your heart or your stomach. Place your hand on the spot as you repeat the mantra. Focus on the action and swell with confidence.[4]

If you feel that you are never good enough, your mantras would be “I am good enough,” “I am worthy,” and “I am worth it.”

3

Practice visualization. Visualizing, or mentally rehearsing, the achievement of your goals is a wonderful way to engage with and train your subconscious mind. Start with visualization exercises that only require you to utilize one to two of your senses. Try to visualize every detail of a photograph or a familiar object. As you master this, work towards visualizing entire scenes of movies or memories. Note the sounds, smells, colors, textures, and tastes. When you acquire the ability to focus and accurately depict details, begin visualizing yourself achieving your goals. It is essential that you visualize yourself as realistic as possible. Don’t dwell on the negatives or envision yourself failing but visualize yourself succeeding and achieving your goal! For example, if you are visualizing yourself giving a speech, picture yourself recovering from a stutter or a skipped sentence instead of moving the crowd to their feet. [5]

Visualize specific goals. Be specific about what it is that you want to achieve. Identify the location, time, and circumstances surrounding your success. Go into as much detail as possible!

Method2

Practicing Mindful Meditation

1

Prepare to meditate.Meditation will help you focus and harness your subconscious mind. Before meditating, determine the length of your session. If you are a beginner, try to meditate for 5 minutes. Change into comfortable clothes. Grab a timer and proceed to a quiet, peaceful environment. Choose a location without clutter or distractions. Sit outside, on the floor your apartment, or on your back porch. Stretch before assuming a comfortable seated position. Touch your toes, release the tension from your neck, and relax your shoulders.[6]

2

Establish your posture. Find a stable seat. Sit in a straight backed chair with your feet planted firmly on the ground or cross-legged on top of a pillow on the floor. Straighten your back—your spine’s natural curve should be present. Position your upper arms parallel to the sides of your body. Your elbows will have a slight bend and your hands will naturally fall gently atop your knees. Lower your chin slightly and gaze at the floor. Settle into the position, become aware of your body, before you proceed.[7]

3

Focus on your breathing and your passing thoughts. Close your eyes and begin to follow your breath. Focus on your inhale and your exhale. As you relax, your mind will wander. Thoughts will flow from your subconscious mind to your conscious mind. Note these thoughts, but don’t judge them. Allow these thoughts to pass. When you realize your mind has wandered, return your attention to your breathing. In time, your mind will wander again. Always continue to come back to your breath. Repeat this process until your session is complete.[8]

Method3

Practicing Stream of Consciousness Writing

1

Get prepared. Gather a pencil or pen and a pad of paper. Find a timer—an egg timer, stop watch, or your phone will work—a set it for 5 or 10 minutes Settle into a quiet, distraction-free environment. Set your phone to silent. Avoid using a computer or tablet—they provide you with too many distractions![9]

2

Begin writing. Sit in a comfortable position and take a deep breath to center yourself. Start the timer and begin writing. Never approach stream of consciousness writing with an agenda but allow your thoughts to flow naturally from one to another. As the thoughts enter your head, record them on paper. Don’t avoid writing down the mundane thoughts or ignore the odd thoughts—these may have arisen from your subconscious mind. Don’t judge the thoughts or stop to analyze them. Just write. Continue recording your thoughts until the timer buzzes.[10]

3

Analyze your writing. When the session is complete, read over your thoughts. Reflect upon your words. Identify recurring thoughts or odd phrases. Try to find a link between two disparate ideas. Make note of any potential subconscious thoughts. As you continue to execute this exercise, read over your work from previous sessions. Trace your progress with stream of consciousness writing and assess if your unconscious mind has revealed itself.[11]

Method4

Practicing Dream Analysis

1

Record your dreams. Before falling asleep, place a pen or pencil and a journal next to your bed. When you wake up in the morning, or periodically throughout the night, record your dreams in your journal. Write down every detail of your dreams you can recall. Jot down the minor details, no matter how mundane or insignificant they may appear. If you have been recording your dreams for a while, make note of any recurring concepts, characters, or objects.

Decide if your dream was significant and categorize it. An insignificant dream incorporates aspects of your physical surroundings—you may incorporate smells, sounds, and physical actions occurring around you into your dream; a significant dream is derived from your subconscious mind—it is not a common dream but an odd, puzzling, or illuminating dream. If your dream was significant, determine which category of subconscious dreams it falls under. Was it a precognitive dream that revealed details about future events? Was the dream a warning? Was it factual—did it confirm what you already knew? Did the dream inspire you or fulfill one of your desires? Did your dream fulfill your wish or need to reconcile with someone or something?[13]

Vivid dreams are often more significant.

3

Interpret your significant dreams. You do not have to be an expert to analyze your own dreams! All it requires is a little effort and research. There are handy resources online and at your local library! When analyzing your dream, assess it as a whole. Each detail you recall has significance and will enhance your interpretation of your dream, as well as your understanding of your subconscious mind. If the dream dictionary’s definition of a symbol is inadequate, try assessing the dream within the context of your own life. Try to determine for yourself if there is a reason this image, person, or thing is appearing in your dreams.[14]

Community Q&A

Try to remember a good moment in your life. Recall how you felt then and compare it to how you feel now. Try to summon that feeling from your memory. Think of it as though you have just experienced it again.

Yes it is. Meditation is basically focusing your brain on a certain thing. If you focus yourself on God/the universe/a higher consciousness/peace, etc., while saying your prayers, then you are meditating,

It is no different than forgetting other new things like musical instruments, new dance forms or new languages. You can train your brain to remember better and make sure that you record your dreams first thing after waking up.

Dreams and nightmares are thought to have a number of benefits for the mind and brain. Bad dreams are a way for your brain to practice dealing with difficult and emotional situations so that you are better prepared to face problems and challenges in real life. You will always have some of these, whether you remember them or not. However, the more stressed, afraid, or otherwise agitated you are, the more likely they are to increase in frequency and intensity. They should help keep you strong mentally. Good dreams, meanwhile, have benefits similar to daydreaming - they make you feel good and they enhance creativity/imagination. Dreams don't have any physical effects beyond helping keep your brain chemistry in check. If you find that, for example, you look or feel worse when you have nightmares, it's not caused by the nightmares - it's more likely that you're just in a poor mental and/or physical state, which is causing both the nightmares and the physical symptoms.

They can do, yes. You are creating a belief system that will help you to progress towards your goals. Thus, if your goal is to improve something involving physical or mental performance, the exercises may take you there.

"I'm trying to remember the good times in my childhood. There has to be a way for me to remember in my dreams, because almost all of my dreams are happy and nostalgic, like I'm with a family member or someone I love. My childhood was horrible, though! Abused in and out of foster care since I was 6. I think it's time for me to remember and go within myself. My subconscious mind is trying to tell me something very beautiful. My beautiful future. "..." more

Rated this article:

bindu sharma

May 22

"I am a great believer of magnificent powers of subconscious mind, but always left practice to control it. This article helped me a lot to again start afresh with new enthusiasm and belief. It again reminded me not to stop even after achieving the goal."..." more

Rated this article:

ND

Nathan Darts

May 23

"I've been trying how to correct my subconscious mind because it is maybe in bad shape. I believe if I reprogram it I may be a good spontaneous decision maker. I think praying and studying the Bible is one of the best ways to realign the subconscious and conscious realm. "..." more

Rated this article:

MA

Meherazul Azim

Apr 18, 2016

"Learned to lie down, calm body and mind, feel like you have an imaginary friend, let him or her ask you any question, be like best buddies and talk about anything that comes first in your mind. Sleep. Analyse them after waking up. I do this before sleeping at night."..." more

A

Anonymous

Jan 16

"I like methods 3 and 4 most. Writing dreams and then analyzing them as to what they actually mean to us. It looks crazy, but I loved it. It's easy to control our thoughts and knowing that what we are actually thinking about our life. Thanks!"..." more

AR

Aryan Rao

Aug 20

"Really insightful. Blasts the notion that subconscious activity is rocket science. Tells us that though we may be not be in total control of our subconscious, surely every man can practice influencing his mind into the positive. "..." more

MA

Miriam Alvarez

Mar 30, 2016

"Creating the habit of positive thinking will keep the mind, body, and spirit happy, healthy, and motivated to succeed in any goal you want to achieve. Positive thought is the engine that helps you keep going."..." more

A

Anonymous

May 27

"Visualization really helped me. After reading this article I used to visualize about my good exam result and you won't believe my exam result came awesome. Thank you, wikiHow, for such an amazing article."..." more

A

Anonymous

Jun 4

"Tip: Remember to believe in yourself. No one can understand you better than your own self. Try to think positive, act positive and speak positive. Negatives can just ruin your life."..." more

SC

Sonali Chakole

May 18, 2016

"Thank you very much for this information. It would help me in my day to day life if I would follow it. Very simple but informative language that is easy for everyone to understand. "..." more

A

Anonymous

Mar 3

"Until now, I was 90% filled with negative thoughts. This article helped me and made me learn how to cross negative thoughts which arise in my mind! Thank you."..." more

M

Mrinal

Jun 14

"You are too good, man, I am your fan. I have been reading your articles for 6 months, I have learned a lot from your articles about many things. Thanks, guys."..." more

DB

Dami Berdu

May 22

"It's so wonderful to gather these ideas and use them to pursue life. I love to know I can trust you with so many interesting topics. Thanks. "..." more

NS

Narayana Swamy

Sep 6

"I am positively talking to myself and always chanting a mantra which gives me confidence and visualization of my dreams and desires. "..." more

Robinsh Sharma

May 1

"I was always searching for a way to control and train my subconscious mind but never found such effective methods."

PN

Princy Narthana

Apr 25

"wikiHow always gives the clear vision to proceed the things.Step by step explanation makes it easier to follow!"

Rated this article:

A

Anonymous

Sep 6

"My strategy matched with one of the details, think positively and nothing will come negative in your mind."

MP

Meldana Powsid

Aug 16

"Wonderful facts to help me not walk in my sleep and I know that I use my subconscious mind to do that."

Rated this article:

HK

Henry Korku

Apr 13

"I can now begin to visualize the possibility of the things I want to achieve in my life!"

A

Anonymous

Jan 25

"Just having this information out there to read with tips to help you succeed was great!!"

JP

Jahnavi Pandey

Aug 17

"Amazing, yet simple. But it works! Simple and small do make grand changes in life."

Rated this article:

T

Tariq

May 18, 2016

"It made me aware of how to benefit from the subconscious and of its importance."

T

Tariq

May 31, 2016

"Made me aware of the importance of the subconsious and how to benefit from it."